Precision upgrade extends university assets by 10 years

Published by EleanorS for Prima Service Ltd in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

Malfunctioning hardware, leaking frames and draughts in the winter were amongst the problems students were experiencing with their windows on one Canterbury campus.

As many as 186 units at the at the University of Creative Arts’s Ian Dury accommodation block were suffering from these and other faults, when Prima Service received a call for help.

With only 15 working days given to complete the works until the accommodation block must be ready, the pressure was on.

“We did a site survey,  and from our specialist knowledge of manufacturing we could see the units had been faulty since their installation by another supplier ten years ago,” explains Prima’s Asset Manager, Will Chan.

“When it rained water was pouring into the building damaging the furnishings and the students were feeling cold draughts, especially in the winter.”

In line with its new CapitalStretch upgrade programme, Prima’s specialists worked up a plan to repair the units and extend their lifespan while keeping costs and disruption down.

“Since most of the existing mechanisms were good, we suggested the upgrade should focus on replacing only the faulty components. No machine access was required since all works could be carried out internally and the required components fitted in situ. Lead-in times and costs were therefore reduced dramatically.”

The plan was approved by the university and an order placed with Prima. Eleven days later, the works were complete ahead of schedule and a final survey carried out. Each component for each unit in each room was given a reference; to make sure all components were accounted for.

“The final audit was very challenging and took two people nearly a day to complete, but now the windows work perfectly. We estimate they will last for at least another ten years,” said Will. “This is good news for the university’s asset managers as it means the residual balance sheet value of the units has been retained, and the lifetime of the windows extended with minimal wastage.”

• For more on Prima’s CapitalStretch programme visit our service page or read our latest case study.